Doing some vegetable garden ‘myth-busting’

With vegetable gardening on the rise, vegetable garden myths are resurfacing.

In the last few weeks gardeners have asked about stomping on onion leaves, applying rock salt to asparagus and pinching suckers off of sweet corn plants. These are myths for the most part and should not be done.

As far as stomping onion leaves, the belief is if the leaves are bent over or stepped on, the plant’s energy will then go into producing a larger bulb. The problem with this is a plant’s energy comes from the photosynthetic process, which occurs only in green leaves. If leaves are damaged, photosynthesis is reduced and so is the plant’s energy source.


To grow large onion bulbs, select the right variety of long-day type onions. Long-day varieties do not begin to form bulbs until day length is 14-16 hours long. Long-day varieties allow plants time to produce vigorous leaves for energy production before bulbs begin to form.

Maintain healthy onion leaves with proper irrigation and fertilization until the foliage naturally begins to yellow and dieback in late summer. Do not walk on, drive on or bend over healthy onion tops.

Some gardeners apply rock salt to asparagus beds to control weeds. While salt will not harm asparagus, and it can kill some weeds, salt can harm the soil. Salt can have a negative effect on soil structure and inhibit water infiltration into the soil. Rains also may leach salt out of the asparagus bed into other parts of the garden and injure nearby vegetables.

Weed control in asparagus is best accomplished by hand pulling, careful hoeing and mulching. Pre-emergence herbicides labeled for use in asparagus may be used beginning the second spring after planting. Following label directions, apply the herbicide over the shredded ferns about three weeks before spears begin to emerge. Do not use salt as weed killer in asparagus.

On removing suckers from the base of sweet corn, research has shown this provides little to no benefit to corn plants and is unlikely to increase yields. Suckers are tillers that form on the lower part of the corn plant. Some corn varieties are more prone to tillering than others.

Tillers often develop when growing conditions are favorable due to good corn growing weather, or to sparse plant spacing that gives plants plenty of room to grow. Tillers also form in response to stalk injury from hail, insects, wind, feet a hoe or even deer hooves.

Each tiller is capable of forming its own roots, leaves, ears and tassels. If tillers develop early enough in the season, they can produce an ear. Later developing tillers usually do not have time to develop an ear before frost.

Research suggests removing tillers has little, if any, effect on corn yields. As a rule, tiller development on undamaged plants does not harm yields. The main stalk usually out-competes tillers and tillers eventually wither away. Tiller development on injured plants or rows planted too thin might actually help by increasing yields.

Instead of expending time and energy on removing suckers (tillers) on sweet corn plants, put it toward thinning root crops and other plants to the recommended spacing. This, we know, will increase yields.

from; http://www.columbustelegram.com/